The Agricultural Relations Council will hold a webinar entitled Growing Your Tribe on January 18 from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. EST. Vance Crowe, Director of Millennial Engagement at Monsanto, shares what tribes are about and how organizations can expand their tribal connections by identifying tribes and recruiting tribal natives.- The Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City will host an Ag Innovation Forum on February 22 from 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. at the American Royal in Kansas City. This session will be especially helpful to those on the path to entrepreneurship, as well as anyone trying to keep pace with emerging technologies. The program includes entrepreneurs from the region and related businesses who provide the necessary ingredients for success. Click here for registration information.
- GAP Connections (GAPC) is proud to announce a new certification program that distinguishes tobacco growers in the marketplace who adhere to GAPC’s standards for socially responsible agronomic, environmental and labor practices. For more information on the GAPC certification program or to begin the certification process, visit gapconnections.com or call (865) 622-4606.
- L.L. Bean, the Freeport, Maine-based retailer of outdoor gear and apparel, has confirmed its commitment to sourcing responsible cotton by joining the Cotton LEADS program. The leading global retailer joins more than 470 program partners that acknowledge the ongoing sustainable gains by United States and Australian cotton growers.
- Peanut producers can improve the bottom-line of their farming operation with knowledge, connections and information gained at the 42nd annual Georgia Peanut Farm Show and Conference, held at the University of Georgia Tifton Campus Conference Center, Jan. 18, 2018, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
- Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue today announced the appointment of six individuals to serve on the National Honey Board. More information about the board is available on the National Honey Board page on the AMS website and on the National Honey Board website.
- As part of its ongoing commitment to support the next generation of agricultural leaders, Case IH is awarding three new Farmall 50A tractors and six large tool chests with $500 Case IH parts gift cards to finalists in each category of the 2018 American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) Young Farmers & Ranchers awards program. The winners were announced at the AFBF’s 99th Annual Convention held this week in Nashville, Tennessee.
- The Alltech Facebook #CDNPicMeONE18Contest offered Canadian producers the opportunity to submit their favorite farm photo for a chance to win a trip to ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference (ONE18), held in Lexington, Kentucky, May 20–23, 2018. The winner with the most Facebook likes is Rhonda McCarron from Antigonish, Nova Scotia. McCarron and a guest will receive free registration and travel expenses paid to ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference.
- broadhead has hired Angie Skochdopole to join its Engage team as a media director. Skochdopole will lead engagement planning for several of the agency’s agriculture clients.
- Lee Enterprises Consulting is pleased to announce the additions of Corinne Young, Chris Guske and Tim Davies to its team.
- The National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) has announced that Martin Williams, a full-service advertising agency in Minneapolis, MN, is now a Sustaining Partner. NAMA Sustaining Partners receive all the sponsorship benefits of a Platinum Level Sponsor plus additional benefits including complimentary registrations at national events, use of the SustainingPartner logo in advertising and promotion, recognition on NAMA website, advertising on digital signage at the annual conference as well as logo and verbal recognition for all three national NAMA events.
The Farmhouse Movement – Magazine and Movement
I found this magazine, The Farmhouse Movement, on a store rack and the name made me buy it. I think it was our local Winn Dixie. I have not had time to read much yet. I’m planning to do that on a plane tomorrow.
But, I thought I’d bring it to your attention to see what you think. As I’ve looked at the website and in the first edition of this magazine it’s more of a movement. It appears to be in a very starter stage so I guess if the community grows we’ll learn more.
Here’s an excerpt explaining the movement:
We believe there is a movement happening in our generation. That many of us are drawn to the concepts, beauty, simplicity, and personality of a well-loved place from yesteryear… a place we call: the farmhouse. A place that is less about the farm, and more about the house.
We believe it’s the epitome of days gone by and the expectation of what lies ahead. That within its walls, the farmhouse represents a foundation of our culture and a freeing of our hearts.
So, what do you think of the concept? Feel free to comment.
New Bayer Cotton Varieties Focus on Yield
Five new Bayer cotton varieties are available in limited quantities for 2018 planting to give growers more options.
“Choosing the right variety for the right field to harvest the right yield is paramount to successfully managing a cotton crop,” says Jason Wistehuff, Bayer product manager for FiberMax® and Stoneville® cotton. “These new varieties combine with our existing variety lineup to ground the season in sound science.”
The new 2018 varieties for FiberMax are:
FM 2498GLT – Adapted to the High Plains, Rolling Plains, Oklahoma, South Texas and East Texas.
FM 2574GLT – For dryland production on the Rolling Plains, also offers high gin turnout
The new 2018 varieties for Stoneville:
ST 5471GLTP – Broadly adapted for the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Delta and South Texas.
ST 5818GLT – Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Delta and South Texas.
ST 5122GLT – Widely adapted to the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Delta, East Texas and Northern Rolling Plains.
“Our variety lineup is proof of our commitment to deliver varieties with the high yield potential, premium quality, herbicide tolerance and disease and insect resistance growers need to choose the right seed for the right field,” Wistehuff says.
Wistehuff talked about Bayer’s commitment to cotton in a recent interview with Chuck at the new Bayer Cotton Breeding Station in Lubbock, Texas: Interview with Jason Wistehuff, Bayer
Precision Ag Bytes 1/10
BRANDT has released a product finder mobile app, available for iOS and Android. The BRANDT Product Finder app will give users the ability to search and mine BRANDT’s entire portfolio of US agriculture products. Each BRANDT product will feature a label, safety data sheet and brochure. Users will be able to save documents for quick retrieval and offline viewing by adding them to their “library”. There are more than 300 products in the BRANDT portfolio.- The BioAg Alliance, Monsanto’s and Novozymes’ collaboration to improve crop harvests through products containing naturally-occurring microbes, has announced an updated research and development pipeline. Among the highlights is the Corn BioYield 2 project, which advanced to Phase 4 (pre-commercial) in The BioAg Alliance R&D pipeline and is expected to be branded as Acceleron B-360 ST, pending regulatory approvals. The BioAg Alliance also announced the achievement of a significant milestone in the Corn BioYield 3 project. Over the past four years, researchers have screened thousands of microbes across multiple sites to find out which microbes deliver the highest increase in crop yield. A small group of top performers have now been selected for commercial evaluation and development.
- Dr. B. Todd Campbell, a research geneticist at the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Coastal Plains Soil, Water, and Plant Research Center in Florence, S.C., is the recipient of the 2017 Cotton Genetics Research Award. The announcement was made during the 2018 Beltwide Cotton Improvement Conference, which convened as part of the National Cotton Council-coordinated 2018 Beltwide Cotton Conferences. In recognition, Dr. Campbell received a plaque and a monetary award.
Trump Puts Rural America in the Spotlight
President Trump’s address to the American Farm Bureau Federation 99th annual convention this week in Nashville definitely brought agriculture some positive publicity, mentioning the word farmers over 25 times in his speech, more than any of the previous three presidents in all of their official speeches combined. Granted, that is just a guess but I feel safe in saying that if someone were to be able to fact-check it!
Farm Bureau estimates 7400 watched the president’s speech in person or on the Livestream, and thousands more have watched it since. Among those watching from home was former AFBF president Bob Stallman, who said it was the first convention he has missed in 30 years. The speech was also carried live by RFD-TV, Fox News and CBS. Agri-Pulse and RFD-TV were both granted interviews with the president. It was definitely a very big deal.
President Trump’s commitment to rural America with the signing of two presidential orders that will help increase broadband access out in the countryside, something that his Rural Prosperity Task Force made a high priority, was also a very big deal to many of the thousands at the event. Jamie interviewed a number of attendees to get their reactions, including FFA and 4H members, state Farm Bureau presidents, the Missouri Director of Agriculture and Mrs. Zippy Duvall. Listen to some of the comments here: Reaction to President Trump at #AFBF18
The Future for LibertyLink
Bayer’s Credenz soybeans including LibertyLink traits performed well in 2017 despite less than ideal weather conditions in many areas.
“Across the board, maybe not every segment of geography had the most ideal weather for soybean production, but as a general rule, results were really positive,” said Monty Malone, soybean agronomy leader for Bayer. “Yields were high – a lot of excellent potential. Our new products performed well. We’re excited about some new things that Bayer is bringing forward in our current flagship trait of LibertyLink. We’re also excited about the performance and future developments of traits that we’re bringing forward maybe next year or the year after.”
Malone said LibertyLink will be the base foundation trait of all herbicide stacks, including those of competitive companies, moving forward. Growers continue to adopt the LibertyLink trait at a fast pace, with its market share growing from roughly five million U.S. acres in 2015 to an addition four million acres in 2016. 2017 was the best year ever for LibertyLink, as it was the highest rated soybean trait platform and added another five million acres of market share. Indications for 2018 from market research and grower intentions point to another four to six million acres of growth, according to Jody Wynia, U.S. seed and trait product manager for Bayer CropScience.
“About four years ago, we developed a platform that we wanted to have Liberty Link enabled on every trait platform in the marketplace,” said Wynia. “And as you look forward to around 2020, it will be in every major trait platform,” said Jody Wynia, U.S. Seed and Trait Production Manager for Bayer CropScience. “LibertyLink, because of the weed control and the performance that growers are seeing, and the adoption rate, is going to be that platform that’s a foundation for every trait system.”
Wynia said Bayer is divesting the entire LibertyLink platform to BASF, contingent on the close of the Monsanto purchase. He said customers at the grower and retail level should expect a smooth transition and very little change to the past experience they have had with LibertyLink.
Cindy interviewed both Malone and Wynia at last month’s ASTA 2017 CSS and Seed Expo. Listen to them both here:
Interview with Monty Malone, Bayer
Interview with Jody Wynia, Bayer
2017 ASTA CSS and Seed Expo photo album
President Trump Addresses Record Farm Bureau Crowd
“Farm country is God’s country,” said President Donald J. Trump at the conclusion of his remarks to a record crowd at the American Farm Bureau Federation 99th annual convention in Nashville.
“This is your 99th year, so I was very disappointed to hear that,” Trump said. “A hundred is so much cooler, I have to be honest. So I’ll be back, I think. Next year, I’ll come back.”
The president hit all the high notes to please the crowd that helped elect him to the White House, from lower taxes to increasing rural broadband access, but only briefly mentioned trade and NAFTA, which farmers are most concerned about when it comes to administration policy. He focused on eliminating unnecessary regulations. “Oh are you happy you voted for me,” the president said as he talked about “ditching the rule” – the Waters of the U.S. or WOTUS, which Farm Bureau stridently opposed.
Listen to President Trump’s entire remarks here – President Trump at #AFBF18
Watch President Trump video archive
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Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue at #AFBF18
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue set the stage for his boss and our President Donald J. Trump to address the largest general farm organization in the country Monday.
Perdue highlighted accomplishments of the Trump Administration related to agriculture and discussed the importance of trade and NAFTA in particular to U.S. agriculture. “To get a deal, we need all sides to seriously roll up their sleeves and get to work,” Perdue said. “We have put a number of proposals on the table to modernize NAFTA, and critically for agriculture, to address key sectors left out of the original agreement – dairy and poultry tariffs in Canada. Now, we want to see our negotiating partners step up and engage so we can get the deal done.”
Perdue also noted that USDA has been rolling back excessive regulations following a directive from President Trump, including WOTUS, the Waters of the U.S. rule which was the subject of Farm Bureau’s Ditch the Rule campaign. “You know, sometimes a mud puddle is just a mud puddle,” Perdue said. “We don’t need the federal government coming in and regulating everything to death.”
The secretary also officially presented the findings of the President’s Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity.
Listen to Perdue’s address here: USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue at AFBF18
Click here to watch it on video.
2018 AFBF Convention Photo Album
WATCH LIVE or click for archived video
Watch President Trump live from AFBF starting at 3:00 pm central.
Bayer Introduces Shared Risk Program for Cotton
Bayer is launching a Shared Risk Program for cotton growers in 2018 to provide replant protection and crop loss protection for irrigated or dryland acres in both the Eastern and Western regions. The program also offers dryland protection for Western Region producers who suffer yields less than 200 lbs. lint per acre due to drought and yield protection for Eastern Region producers whose yields are lower than 750 lbs. per acre.
“We want them to grow a great crop, but in these type of conditions out here in West Texas there is a lot of risk and we’re really pleased to be able to share that risk with growers,” said Kerry Grossweiler, Bayer CropScience SeedGrowth Equipment and Coatings Manager. “We actually are in the process of launching our 2018 Shared Risk program and it really has three components. One, it provides replant. We happen to have the industry’s lowest copay for replanting cotton at $25. And then the second piece is really crop loss. So if 60 days after they plant and their crop is lost, then we reimburse on seed trade and some other Bayer inputs. And then third, is dry land protection. So, at the end of the year if yields are below 200 pounds, we provide, again, the cost of seed, traits and some other inputs.”
Grossweiler said Bayer is also proud to continue supporting high yield growers with the FiberMax One Ton Club, which is now in its 13th year.
Find out more in Chuck’s interview: Kerry Grossweiler, Bayer Cropscience
AFBF President Pleased to Host President Trump
The second day of the American Farm Bureau Federation convention is when the spotlight is usually on the big name keynote speaker, the secretary of agriculture, and the big award winners at the meeting. This year, YF&R, Reba McIntyre and even Secretary Sonny are being upstaged by President Donald Trump, the first time that a president has addressed the AFBF convention since 1992.
AFBF president Zippy Duvall is more than pleased to have the president of the United States at the 99th annual convention in Nashville to address thousands of farmers in attendance and many thousands more through live streaming video from AFBF and on RFD-TV, which will also have a one-on-one interview with President Trump following his address. “We are so excited about having this opportunity … to have a seat at the table,” said Duvall in his Sunday opening press conference. “That happens in a lot of administrations, it seems to be more open in this one.”
In the press conference, Duvall also talked about what he will say during his time with President Trump today. AFBF president Zippy Duvall opening press conference
Watch President Trump live from AFBF starting at 3:00 pm central.
Find links to all AFBF convention content.